One method of displaying goods for sale would be to position them on elongated store shelves organized into a number of modular spaces or “modules”. Locations of products on shelves may now be found by their aisle and module designations. Typically, a product offered for sale is placed in one or more adjacent modules according to an overall modular plan. The modular plan indicates the aisle and module where each product is displayed.
The modular plan allows store associates to more easily find a desired product location. An associate would need to find a product location when re-stocking that location when there are few or no products at that location.
If a product is out of stock, leaving an empty module (a ‘gap’) can be ‘plugged’ with another product. Plugging a module is stocking the module with a temporary replacement product which is intended to be removed when a shipment of the original product has been received.
Alternatively, the ‘gap’ can be ‘collapsed’. ‘Collapsing’ a module is temporarily allocating a portion or all of the space of the module to at least one adjacent module.
These are two examples of changing (“flexing”) the modular spaces.
Current systems for keeping track of inventory for modular layouts are not effective mechanisms since they do not indicate whether a product is in its correct module (location) due to plugging and collapsing of modules.
When a product's modular space is adjusted or ‘flexed’, either due to a temporary or permanent store plan, it typically remains that way until it is discovered by a store employee such as an associate or manager. Discovery usually requires the store associate to find and compare the current layout to the modular plan to correct the layout. This can be accomplished by acquiring information which may include a listing of facings, shelf capacity, and the modular sequence number. This may require that the store associates have a device such as a handheld printer to print out the modular information and/or plans to correct the layout.
Since the associates cannot tell which modules are improperly stocked using current systems, they must check the layout regularly. Searching for and finding flexed modules on a regular basis requires time on the part of the associates and prevents them from doing more productive tasks.
With current organization systems, it is also difficult to determine which modules are currently filled with temporary products, and which temporary product should be replaced with the original product once the shipment of the original product is received.
Maintaining the original modular plan is important. Flexibility to change the location of some products in certain circumstances is also required.
Currently, there is a need for a system of labeling which allows for flexible modular organization of products, but also indicates how to reorganize the products back into their original modular plan.